Can’t switch off: the impact of an attentional bias on attitudes

Previous attention theories have thus looked into the question of how we, subconsciously or consciously, decide to pay attention to different entities in the environment. However, past literature is relatively silent about how we ‘cease’ paying attention to an entity or process. Our work is a step towards filling this gap. Our work shows that we as human beings may not have evolved an ‘internal off-switch’ for attention – meaning that we are ‘unable’ to stop paying attention to a process, if there is nothing else in the environment that calls for our attention. This position becomes particularly interesting where an ongoing incomplete process unnecessarily occupies our attentional resources until it ‘ends’, even when this process doesn’t require any more attention from our side. We say that a process doesn’t need any more attention when (1) the process cannot be further controlled by us, and, (2) when the outcome of the process is certain and known from before-hand itself. We show that such an unnecessary chaining of attention, which is a precious and scarce resource, generates negative emotions within the body. Unaware of the correct source of these negative emotions, we often misattribute them to the entities associated with the incomplete process. Such a misattribution results in us having decreased attitudes towards these entities for no fault of theirs. With the help of 9 studies, we investigate and find evidence for our positions. Our work has significant marketing implications for various industries including online banner advertisements, gift cards and money remittance.